Maple Leafs barely show up against Panthers

Carl Gunnarsson of the Toronto Maple Leafs battles for the puck with Scottie Upshall of the Florida Panthers during NHL Hockey action at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Tuesday December 17, 2013. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)

The Florida Panthers had smacked them around, the coach had benched some miscreants and shifted others around, the Air Canada Centre turned on them and the standings leave less breathing room as 2014 approaches.

But Monday’s 3-1 loss did squeeze some candid comments from the players, who have been covering their wayward tracks with a string of cliches.

“We simply got embarrassed — at home,” summarized Mason Raymond — and he at least scored. “Beaten all over the ice in every situation.”

Finishing up five games in seven nights, the Leafs weren’t expected to dominate the upstart Cats, but falling behind quickly and without sustained offence until the third period, prompted plenty of booing. Less talented on paper, Florida is nonetheless moving up the ladder, joining many teams within six points of the Leafs. And they employed elements of the shutdown game Toronto used in last year’s playoff run.

Goaltender James Reimer did his best to keep his team in a game where it once more had a death wish when it came to giveaways, in which the Leafs lead the NHL.

“We either have guys, or half the team or the full team that only show up in parts,” said Reimer. “I don’t know if there’s one specific reason, but we have to find a way to bring it for 60 minutes.”

Reimer is usually in charge of morale boosting at such times, but his long pause to the first question of what ails during this slide of 3-10 spoke volumes.

“I don’t think it’s regressing,” he said after further pondering. “I think we’ve had it at times. You look around the league. A lot of other teams have been struggling or have struggled. I have full, absolute faith in my teammates, coaches everyone. I have faith that they’ll have faith.”

But coach Randy Carlyle is wavering on some players, nailing Jake Gardiner to the bench for part of the second period, after his role in a Sean Bergenheim breakaway and the ultimate Panthers’ winner.

“We won a faceoff, it goes back to him and they wind up with a breakaway out of it,” said Carlyle, with a what-would-you-do tone.

He also removed right winger David Clarkson from the second line, restoring Saturday’s successful trio of Raymond, Joffrey Lupul and Peter Holland. Clarkson, who was back from a two-game suspension and quickly in the penalty box for holding a stick, continues to struggle.

Nazem Kadri gave up one puck deep in Florida territory that resulted in Tomas Fleischmann’s goal at 3:29 of the first, while captain Dion Phaneuf was minus two with an ugly giveaway of his own.

“We have to find a play better and that’s all of us,” Phaneuf said. “I made mistakes tonight that were unacceptable.”

After complaining about the mental muck-ups in Pittsburgh the night before, Carlyle linked his team’s lack of cohesion to having no reserve energy for puck battles. Most players didn’t use the schedule as an escape hatch.

“We come home, we should be jumping,” said Jay McClement. “A lot of times it’s our (skating) or we’re not involved in the game physically. That’s our game when we play well. There’s no excuse for that. Everyone has the same schedule, we should be champing at the bit.”

The Leafs also lost fourth-line centre Trevor Smith with a broken bone in his hand from a shot block, already down two middlemen with Dave Bolland and Tyler Bozak out.

As Phaneuf spoke post-game, a basket full of the Panthers game sweaters was wheeled through the room en route to the laundry, as if the Leafs hadn’t seen them in their faces enough for one night.

“We take pride as a team that doesn’t get outworked and tonight we were outworked,” Phaneuf said. “Use whatever words you want, under-performing or not playing well, but we have to turn it around.

We’re in this together, we’re the guys who’ll get out of this funk together. You have to be conscious of where you’re at (in the standings) and we know where we’re at. These are points that you can not get back.”